Justice League: Falling Sky
by cleverusername8
Summary: The world is in disarray after invading Kryptonian forces ravage the planet. Many are suspicious of the sudden emergence of metahumans who claim to rise in defense of humanity. But when a new external threat appears on the horizon, these unlikely heroes are all that the people of Earth seem to have left to turn to lest they face annihilation. Inspired by the events of Man of Steel.


**Author's note: Hi! Welcome to my first shot at fan fiction! I'm super pumped to get this story out there because it is hands down the most invested project that I've ever taken on. That includes all 13 years of my education so far (working on my fourteenth as we speak!)**

**I'm a huge comic book fanatic and a long time lurker (weird word, I know) on this site. I'm a huge fan of some of the stuff I've read here and figured that it's about time for me to take a swing.**

**This story is the beginning of what will become a saga of stories. I've planned out a skeleton plot for a Justice League story that will span a number of different fics that I plan to write. Literal months of planning have gone into this because of the many little details that I wanted to solidify before releasing the first part for the world to consume.**

**So, in an attempt to avoid eating up your patience with a long author's note, let me just point out that the "prologue" so to speak for this story is the Man of Steel movie. The key events of that are what lead into this opening chapter. I'm not calling this 'Man of Steel 2' or 'Justice League the Movie' but it's meant to be a semi-cinematic follow up that tells the tale of how the Justice League comes to be in that universe.**

**So without further ado, (and before I get too ahead of myself and spill some spoilers) let's begin! Pardon any rookie mistakes, but just know that I'm fully committed to improving my writing game as time goes on. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Lois Lane was used to getting respect. She won a Pulitzer Prize for her nationally recognized work after all. Even the idea of people being afraid of her wouldn't make her bat an eye. With a sharp tongue and a stare that could kill, there weren't many men – or women for that matter – that could comfortably approach her on a whim. But ever since she became world famous as "the woman that knew the alien", she felt even more so alone in a crowd. Her co-workers often avoided eye contact or any intersection of paths when walking around the Daily Planet offices. She would often catch people staring at her sideways only to look away when she turned her head. She detested all of this, but she fully understood why they were all so skittish around her. She was a walking reminder of the darkest day the Earth had ever seen. The day aliens leveled a city and nearly crushed an entire hemisphere of the planet.

The self-proclaimed Kryptonians had "traveled across an ocean of stars" to reach Earth. They were searching for one of their own – a man (or whatever they word they use to refer to male inhabitants of Krypton) by the name of Kal-El. These extraterrestrials looked like humans as well as communicated verbally similarly to humans. This space vagabond had apparently journeyed to Earth at an early age and embedded himself within the planet's population unbeknownst to anyone who wasn't close with his adopting family.

The Kryptonians demanded that Kal-El come forward and surrender himself to their de facto leader, General Zod. He was given 24 hours to do so or the consequences, according to the warning, would be dire. That's where Lois came in. She had encountered the alien a short time earlier on an assignment to the northern tundra. A rival member of the press who was aware of this encounter threw her under the bus and had government officials after her for any bits of information that would assist them in tracking down the intruder.

One thing led to another and Lois became fully involved with the resistance effort against the militant invaders who really had no intention of sparing the lowly human race. As a result, some saw her as a hero while others criticized her for not coming forward with the information sooner. None of that changed the fact that one of the largest cities in North America was now a smoking pile of debris and ash. The damage done in less than a day of battle with a belligerent alien race hell-bent on recreating their homeworld on our own.

Now, the trauma of the ordeal hung heavier on Lois' shoulders since she retained her position with the internationally known Daily Planet News. She was essentially as alien as Kal-El was at her own office.

And as if to add insult to injury, she was now co-workers with him as well.

In less than an hour, they were due in Centennial Park where LexCorp was giving a press conference on the state of recovery. The owner of the company himself would deliver the speech and outline the plans for the rebuilding effort that was already in progress. Ignoring the hushed whispers that trailed her as she passed cubicle after cubicle, Lois made her way to her first stop of an already hectic day.

"How are you settling in?"

"Who me? I- uh… I'm good. Ah, how are you?" stammered the man she addressed who seemed to be totally unprepared for her sudden appearance.

"Stressed, hungry, craving a bed, but they don't pay me to voice my grievances to new hires. I'm here to give you your first assignment for the Planet. We run a tight ship here, and if you can't keep up I send you overboard. Understand?"

"…Y- yes ma'am."

"Ugh. This isn't primary school. Call me Lois, not ma'am. I'm not nearly old enough to warrant that title yet."

"Ooh! So sorry Miss Lane, I-I-I'll be ready in a bit."

"If by 'a bit' you mean three minutes, I'm happy as a clam. We have a schedule to keep mister… uh…"

"Olsen! Jimmy Olsen. This is my first day."

"Well hop to it Olsen. I have a habit of leaving stragglers for dead. Two minutes and forty five seconds left. I'll see you in the lobby."

"Yes ma-" he slapped his hands over his mouth before finishing the phrase, but of no consequence. Lois was already bounding down the hall towards the elevator. She knew "Clark Kent" would be along right on time. After all, he seemed to have a knack for knowing when he is needed.

* * *

A blinding flood of fluorescent light gushed into the dark observation room as the heavy steel door burst open. The collection of shady government types (the kind commonly seen in action/thriller movies) gathered in said room, all shielding their eyes from the suddenness of it.

Without a word, a man with mostly white and graying hair stormed in. His apparent tunnel vision was focused on a door at the far end of the adjacent wall. It was then clear to everyone in the room who he was and why he was here – he was sent to speak to the prisoner. Though, they actively avoided the use of the term 'prisoner' because that didn't quite describe the situation with their "guest" accurately.

Accompanying the man was another official – a calmly countenanced, African American man. He carried a sizable binder filled with papers and photos… the classified stuff. He quickly and smoothly closed the large metal door behind him and did the same with the door to the interrogation room after the first man whipped it open in a similar fashion to the entrance door. The silence that followed the men's appearance dissipated as the hushed conversations resumed. Those in charge of overseeing the interrogation began to get themselves into place but everyone was talking about the same thing – how insane the world had become ever since the likes of _them_ started showing up.

Inside of the interrogation room sat a small, weak looking, metal table with three chairs. One chair was already occupied by the interviewee that had been held in this facility for most of the previous night as well as the current day. This subject looked none too happy to be there, but maintained a confident stare straight into the eyes of the white haired man who glared right back.

"Okay, here's how this is going to work buttercup," the man said as he roughly pulled an empty chair away from the table and sat in it, "I'm gonna ask you some questions and you're gonna cough up some answers, get me? I'm not in the business of beating around the bush to make you any more comfortable so I apologize in advanced if I come off as being forward. However, my government is pretty on edge while you're prancing around our country like nobody's business when we still don't understand anything about you."

"Well then let's not waste any time getting acquainted. My people want nothing but diplomacy with the leadership of your country," the subject replied in a steady tone. "My name is Diana. I am from the island of Themyscira, home of the Amazons."

"Amazons. How novel," sneered the man with the white hair. His partner cleared his throat and began to speak.

"This is Agent King Faraday. My name is John Jones," he said slowly in a gentle, yet firm voice, "we are from the investigative branch of the newly formed Department of Metahuman Affairs. Let me say that our government is very thankful to you and your people for your help during the extraterrestrial crisis two weeks ago. Without the outside help we received from you and the others, we may not have fared so well against the initial attack."

"But don't get the wrong idea – we're not going to kiss your feet like puppy dogs. You do **not** have free reign to waltz around doing whatever the he-" Faraday was cut off by Jones laying down the binder and opening up the first set of files. He turned them around so that Diana could see them.

"We were hoping that you could start by telling us where you come from. We are very curious as to how your island's existence has been hidden from us for all of this time," Agent Jones interjected.

"Our island is under the protection of Olympus itself. My mother, Queen Hippolyta, made a pact with the gods to allow her Amazons to remain on an island untouched by the world of man. Her former lover, Ares, lead a brutal war against my mother's forces that resulted in much loss of life – including the son he and my mother had together. As penance, Ares was stripped of his seat of power on Olympus and was forbidden from approaching my mother again. Zeus himself picked out the island and had Hephaestus forge a magical mirror that would conceal the island to unauthorized eyes. Furthermore, the god of the sea, Poseidon, created a barrier of storms and uncertain waters to protect any naval invasion that may be launched on the island."

"The Bermuda Triangle. We have our own set of fairytales about that place ourselves, but my government is not interested in any of this mumbo jumbo nonsense you're spewing. We are interested in how you plan on relating to us in a diplomatic sense," Faraday cut in.

"It remains undecided whether an attempt will be made to establish relationship with Man's World at any nearby point of time. For now, I have earned the right to be ambassador to your country through contest. We tried to convey a sense of respect through the color choice of my garments," Diana said looking down at her outfit.

"Lady, those 'garments' would get you arrested for exposition if you walked around in public in some states. You're lucky this northeastern region has gotten so lax with rules like that. You're practically wearing a swimsuit. Is that customary of your people too?" Faraday said in an amused tone all the while taking the opportunity to steal a couple of quick glances up and down.

"I apologize for the bluntness of my partner's inquiries. We are merely trying to get a better feel for the culture of your people. We do appreciate your attention to our country's colors," commented Agent Jones who maintained a more conservative gaze on Diana. She still had not flinched at any of the aforementioned comments. Agent Jones supposed that it was possibly for the best that this particular woman was chosen to represent her island.

* * *

Pebble after pebble struck the condominium's bedroom window until the man to which the window belonged jolted awake. For a solid second and a half, he was convinced that he was falling. In reality, he had somehow slid off of the bed enough for his face to be resting on the floor, and his legs propped sideways on the mattress.

The man rolled forward, knocking a torrent of loose change from the nightstand onto the already over-cluttered floor. He spent four or so seconds cradling his bruised lower back at the point of impact then stumbled to the window from which the irritating clunking sounds were coming from.

A man with wild hair matched with a scraggly goatee was standing at the ground level with a handful of gravel bits from the driveway. The recently awakened man massaged the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Julio, what in God's name do you think you're doing?"

"Here to save your lazy butt from an earful from Garfield, Barry. He threw a fit yesterday morning when you weren't around to retrieve last week's lab results for him. I received the opportunity to make a fool of myself trying to sift through your whacky file organizing system," Julio replied as he shaded his eyes from the direct sunlight. "I swear he's going to demote you to being the station's janitor if you keep up the daily late arrival routine."

"I know Julio, I'm trying. But you can't go throwing rocks at my windows. Insurance doesn't cover co-worker indignation. Besides, I don't have any outside commitments to attend to today."

"That's probably not what Iris is thinking right now…" Julio said as he leaned to the side looking towards the front door.

"Wha-"

"Post-It seems to have left you a free sample that just so happens to be angrily autographed by your girlfriend," said Julio who was poorly containing his amusement at what he was looking at.

Barry quickly shut the window and darted out of his bedroom then down the stairs. Still in his boxers, he swung the front door open and peek around to the other side to be greeted by a pale yellow note stuck to the handle. He grimaced as he read the frustration of his significant other manifested in writing. He forgot about their plans **again**.

He facepalmed himself so hard that it made him dizzy. Julio, who was still chuckling, invited himself inside of Barry's modest condo and made a beeline for the pantry.

"Yo Barr, I can try to help you patch up the holes in your polka dotted love life a little later, but we really need to get going. It's 8:36. We've gotta be punched in by nine, remember? Same as always? Anyways, got any Apple Jacks left?"

/\/\/

"So, what do we have?" Barry asked after he and Julio Mendez had settled into their work station a little later.

"We're putting a full court press on this arson case – they courts are trying to get this squared away as quickly as possible so that we can focus our lab resources on this junk here." Julio gestured to the table full of what appeared to be scrap metal.

"And what is this junk exactly?"

"Well, apparently we've been inducted into the greater scientific community overnight since a couple of these alien weapons are now tied to the court case. You know the dude they pinned the apartment fire on? Mick Roro?"

"Rory."

"Yeah, him. He's a farmer's boy. His family owns most of the fields on this side of the Missouri. After the fight went down between the National Guard and the alien invaders two weeks ago, a lot of broken tech from the aliens were left lying around. Hazmat that came to clean up the area recovered all kinds of weird chemicals, fuels, fluids, and stuff from the battlezone – enough to bottle up in jars! Anyway, some additional pieces of weaponry were recovered from this Rory guy's base of ops… we suspect that he used some of it to perpetrate the fire. And that's our job for today. And probably the rest of the month."

"Weird," said Barry beginning to get lost in thought, "so why are they making us hold onto all of this? Why not have legitimate researchers handle the spaceman stuff?"

"Man, there is no way the governments going to let private science get their grubby hands on this kind of thing. Since we're technically government employees, they can hold a tighter leash on us while we're working with this stuff and our results can remain in their hands. Not to mention it's directly tied to a crime committed in Central City. Also, they won't have to pay the higher up lab boys that make triple what we do for the same job essentially," Julio said a bit bitterly.

"Oh. Well that stinks."

"Tell me about it. I'm thinking about ordering in for lunch today before we get cracking on this. You want anything?"

"No, I'm good. I eat like a bird these days since Iris says that we should get in shape together."

"She's trying to shape you up in more than one way, huh?" chuckled Julio. "You do know she's going to rip you a new one later for forgetting her _again_."

"Ugh, it's a curse to be so involved in what you do for a living. I figured I was doing the right thing staying in late after coming in late and I got caught up in what I was doing and… I forgot I had agreed to drive Iris to the mall to pick up a gift for her sister's birthday. I don't want to lose her Julio, but I'm driving a wedge between us every time this happens. It's so frustrating."

"Hey man, it happens. But you know what MIGHT patch things up a bit? Charity Ball. Saturday night. Me and Sabrina are going," Julio said with a goofy grin.

"I don't understand what's up with you and double dates, but I'll think about it, okay?" With that, Barry got to work, and Julio went off to order food.

/\/\/

Before long, Barry was off the hook… with work at least. He built up sufficient courage to confront his mistake head on and meet up with Iris at the usual diner she went to after work each day. He stopped by a convenience store to grab a bag of fun-sized M&M candies as a peace offering and drove onto the diner.

He found her sitting in the usual booth – third from the corner, closest to the window. He timidly slid into the seat across from her as she sat stirring her tea.

"Sudden car trouble huh?" she began without looking up from her stirring. Barry blinked a couple of times before answering.

"Uh… no? I was jus-"

"The _trouble_ was that your car was _missing_ Barry. I went to your house after you didn't show up at mine for a whole hour after the time that we agreed."

"Yeah, I um… you went all that way to my old place?"

"Yup. I have yet to regret my decision to invest in a bike. Seeing how I can't count on it to be there when I need it."

Barry noticed she was looking at him now. The tone of the words felt like spit hitting his face. He shifted his eyes to her, then away, then back to her, then out the window.

"I've been a bit spacey for sure the last few weeks after the attacks and all of that, but I'm doing everything I can to snap out of it! I made it in to work on time today!" Barry fumbled. He was definitely grasping for anything that had potential to tip her mood to less scary position.

"Barry, you were spacey long before actual aliens from space came down. I don't have enough sticky notes to show you how many 'where are you?' notes I owe you by now. I appreciate your consistent honesty, but honestly, I'm beginning to question if I'm insane. Waiting for you and waiting – expecting you to magically reform if I give you one more chance."

"I brought you some M&Ms…" Barry said weakly as he slid the bag of candy onto the table. Almost on cue, a waitress brought a fruit and yogurt cup to Iris. Barry's ears turned bright red half in embarrassment and half in sheer terror from Iris' expression.

"And I see you've completely ignored the diet too."

"NO NO NO! I've avoided carbs like the plague, and I thought you allowed for one exception per week and it's already Wednesday."

"The exception is here, Barry" Iris gestured to the yogurt cup, "and when I _do_ make a dessert exception, at least I go for something remotely healthy… something that won't leave me feeling completely empty." Barry was certain that the last comment was a jab at him but he was in turning-the-other-cheek mode at the moment.

Iris let out a sigh and slowly ate a few spoonfuls of her yogurt. Barry patiently and anxiously waited for her to continue. He decided that he wasn't going to make statements until she did from now on when they had these heart to heart discussions…

"I think we need a break Barry." A sack of bricks to the chest would tickle in comparison to hearing **that**. "You're not a bad guy. I just think that you have some serious growing up to do before you can move forward in this relationship."

Barry continued to sit in silence. Iris ate some more yogurt. Eventually, she pushed it away as if she would vomit if she had to look at it any more.

"I have to go," she said as she stood up. She grabbed the bag of M&Ms and stuck them in her purse. Barry still sat silently. "I have full confidence that you'll come around Barry. But until that happens, I can't continue spinning in the mud. I think some time to think would only benefit us. So, I'll see you later."

And just like that, she was off to the counter to pay for what she ordered. Barry remained at the table while she stood and paid then left the diner. He didn't even realize it was raining until she opened the door and the sound of the water hitting the sidewalk amplified. A rumble of thunder punctuated the sound of the door closing.

The same waitress who dropped the dessert off slowly shuffled up and shyly asked if she could get him anything.

"I- I'm sorry, I-" words weren't going to work. He pulled a couple of dollars out, dropped them in the tip pitcher next to the register and left the diner. Once in his car, he didn't even stop to decide where he intended to drive off to. He got in gear and headed down the road back to the lab. Work was the only thing that even had a chance of clearing his head after this experience.

Plus, he did his best work on dark and stormy nights.

* * *

While the Earth drowned in its own despair after it faced an apocalypse, the universe continued to spin on relatively unaffected.

However, the event did not go unnoticed beyond the Milky Way. The destruction of Krypton was believed to be the extinction of the Kryptonian race. The Kryptonians were notoriously xenophobic and rarely settled on any other inhabited planets long term. The outposts their ancestry erected on various planets were either stripped for supplies or torn down by the civilizations that found them. It was clear that no one particularly missed them either.

But, many did find it incredibly intriguing that they suddenly reemerged without warning in the most unlikely spot in the known cluster of galaxies in "civilized space". The planet Earth was widely thought to be backwater and isolated. No race saw fit to mark it for conquest since it offered little benefit or strategic incentive.

Yet, a band of Kryptonians appear and choose to make their presence known there… For what reason, no one knew.

But there were plenty who intended to find out. One in particular who was _dying_ for the knowledge.

~ to be continued in part 2 ~

* * *

**Thanks again for taking the time to read this! As my first fan fiction, I'm super concerned that I'm doing a good job and, most importantly, keeping readers like you entertained. So please hit me up with any criticism you have. Negative opinions help too! I won't be offended.**

**Also, the concept of beta readers seems interesting to me and I'd be interested in finding out more. If anyone could fill me in on how getting a beta works, I'd really appreciate it.**

**In any case, I'll get part 2 out ASAP. See ya next time!**


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